Men Only (Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett)

Member Name: Nomad

Product:	Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett
Date:	02/10/03 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Better written that previous Discworld books, Very humerous, ANother great set of characters

Disadvantages: Still an early novel in the series, Slightly unsatisfactory ending

The Discworld can be a funny old place but when all is said and done but it has an awful lot in common with our own world. It may be true that the Discworld has a huge natural supply of magic and, to the best of my knowledge, Earth is not flat, disc shaped or supported on the backs of four giant elephants who, in turn, stand on the back of a space turtle, but I'm talking more about the day to day lives of it?s inhabitants.

Yes, many of them may be wizards, witches, adventurers and thieves but I'm referring to their emotions, values and beliefs and the trouble they often lead to. And it's nine year old Eskarina, or Esk for short, who is going to discover just how much trouble when she find herself in a pretty unusual situation, even by Discworlds standards. For Esk, the problems started one dark night nine years ago?

Elderly wizard Drum Billet is making his way towards the village of Bad Ass in the region of Discworld known as the Ramtops. He's had a long life but his time is almost up and he just has one final task to complete.

Tradition dictates that he must pass on his staff, and in doing so his powers, to another. Specifically an eighth son of an eighth son, and it just so happens that the blacksmith of Bad Ass is himself an eighth son and a father of seven. And fortunately, for the wizard, his wife is expecting child number eight that very night.

Drum Billet manages to locate the blacksmith and visits the new arrival. When the child touches the staff the wizard believes his task complete and safe in the knowledge of a job well done, the wizard prepares for his visit from DEATH.

But, having been in something of a rush, Drum Billett appeared to have overlooked one minor little detail. He had passed on his powers to a daughter instead of a son. And everyone knows that wizards are most definitely not female.

Fortunately for the blacksmith the village has its very own witch in the form of Esme W
eatherwax, known locally as Granny Weatherwax, who is more than a little concerned with the childs future.

As Esk grown up, Granny Weatherwax tries to school her in the intricacies of witchcraft. But it soon becomes clear that Esk has set her mind on becoming a wizard. She decides to take up a position at Unseen University where all budding wizards go to learn their craft. Reluctantly, Granny Weatherwax agrees to escort the child but on route they become separated.

Intending on making her own way to the University, Esk encounters Simon a stuttering, bumbling, individual also heading to the same place. It turns out that he has some rather promising magical abilities but unknown to Esk or Simon their powers are beginning to attract some very unwanted attention from the nearby dark dimensions.

Welcome to the third novel in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. Originally published in 1987, it follows hot on the heels of 'The Colour Of Magic' and 'The Light Fantastic' If you've read these first two novels you'll know that they both revolved around the cowardly wizard, Rincewind and the Discworlds' first tourist, Twoflower. If you haven't read them then, well, you'll still be aware of it because I just told you.

Having put much effort into creating a detailed and interesting, if somewhat bizarre world in the previous books, Mr P has wisely decided to expand his horizon to focus on some of the other many colourful characters that inhabit this land.

The star of the show is Esk, the determined and stubborn nine year old, and her fight against societies views that no female can become a wizard. But for my money it's the wonderful Granny Weatherwax who has some of the funniest and best scenes including her numerous attempts to fly a broomstick despite her fear of heights and speeds and the fact she is using a somewhat dilapidated model.

Pratchett really seems to get into his stride in
this third book and as funny and interesting as Rincewind and Twoflower were it is nice to spend a little time with a couple of Discworlds other inhabitants.

It's also a proper story with a beginning, middle and end. This was one of the faults I picked on in the previous books, namely that they just seemed to be a bit of a mish-mash of humorous ideas strung together with no real plot behind them. Don't get me wrong, they were very, very funny but they just lacked a strong storyline.

If you're not familiar with Pratchett I would point out that he doesn't write in chapters. It's not a major problem and unlike the previous books it does nothing to break the flow of the story.

As with the previous books it's very easy to get caught up in the various goings-on and there are plenty of laughs to be had along the way. I thought it was better told than the previous books and it is clear that Pratchett is developing as a writer. However, despite these improvements I'm still going to give it four stars.

Compared with other fantasy books that I've read it probably deserves that fifth star but at this stage of my Discworld ops (and yes, I am planning on reviewing them all) I should really also be rating it as compared with the rest of the series. There are currently about thirty in total and, although I've only read the first five I know there is better to come.

If, after reading the first two books, you couldn't really get into Discworld then I would certainly encourage you give this a try before giving up on the series completely.

Although this is a self contained story it's still a Discworld novel and, as such, has the occasional reference to other characters, locations and events in the rest of the series so I would stick by my recommendation of working your way through the series in order to get the most from them. That said if I really can't persuade you to read the ser
ies in order then you will be able to dip into the series here and lose nothing of the actual story.

As a minor downside I would have to say that personally I was a little disappointed by the ending in that it all seemed to be over very quickly and I didn't really find it that satisfying. Still, try not to let that put you off too much.

Overall then this is a highly enjoyable entry in the series, better written that the previous books and perhaps a better indication of the scope of the Discworld series than the first two novels alone. Read this if you've not quite been swayed by the first two and then make your mind up.

It's worth shopping around to save a few pounds. WH Smiths and Amazon, amongst others have deals on at the moment which are well worth a visit if you're looking to build up your Discworld collection.

As already mentioned I plan on reading and reviewing every one of the series. So, only 27 more to go then! Look out for my review of book four in the series, also known as Mort, coming to a computer screen near you soon. ish.


Thanks for reading.

© Nomad 2003



Book information
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'Equal Rites' by Terry Pratchett
283 pages, published by Corgi, £5.99
ISBN: 0-552-13105-9


Some websites worth a look
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The L Space Web - http://www.ie.lspace.org/
Discworld monthly - http://www.ufbs.co.uk/dwm/
Terry Pratchett Books - http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/


Other Discworld book reviews by me
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'Destination Discworld' an opinion on Book 1 - 'The Colour Of Magic'
'Fantastical Magical' an opinion on Book 2 - 'The Light Fantastic'

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